Sunni insurgents have cut the roads linking the city to the rest of Iraq. The country is being partitioned as militiamen fight bloody battles for control of towns and villages north and south of the capital. As American and British political leaders argue over responsibility for the crisis in Iraq, the country has taken another lurch towards disintegration. Well-armed Sunni tribes now largely surround Baghdad and are fighting Shia militias to complete the encirclement. The Sunni insurgents seem to be following a plan to control all the approaches to Baghdad. They have long held the highway leading west to the Jordanian border and east into Diyala province. Now they seem to be systematically taking over routes leading north and south. Dusty truck-stop and market towns such as Mahmoudiyah, Balad and Baquba all lie on important roads out of Baghdad. In each case Sunni fighters are driving out the Shia and tightening their grip on the capital... http://news.independent.co.uk

A decorated Vietnam veteran convicted of rape 25 years ago became a free man Tuesday after a judge ruled he probably wouldn't have been found guilty if DNA testing had been available.Specialized DNA testing performed this year proved Larry Fuller, 57, was not the assailant who raped a Dallas woman in her home. Fuller has spent about two decades in prison for the crime."My faith was tested and I won," he said, trembling slightly as he left the courthouse carrying two worn paperback Bibles.Fuller was sentenced in 1981 to 50 years behind bars after jurors convicted him of aggravated rape. Authorities claimed that he broke into a 37-year-old woman's apartment and raped her, using a butcher knife to cut her as she struggled.The woman looked at two photo lineups, both of which included Fuller. She picked him in the second one, even though Fuller was bearded in the picture and she said her attacker had no facial hair....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226583,00.html

Georgia's foreign minister is to hold the first high-level talks in Russia since the crisis in relations between the two nations started in September. Gela Bezhuashvili will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Mr Bezhuashvili told the BBC that he wanted Moscow to be a partner and a leader in the former Soviet Union rather than bullying its neighbours. He said he wanted to re-establish a dialogue and that his priority was to get Russian economic sanctions lifted. Moscow has cut transport links and deported hundreds of Georgian citizens in its furious response to the arrest of four Russian military intelligence officers on spying charges in Georgia in September. Mr Bezhuashvili said he was ready for compromise, but called on Russia to stop using bullying tactics, and use persuasion rather than threats to strengthen its influence in the region. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6104384.stm

Israeli troops killed at least one Palestinian on Wednesday and wounded 20 in a series of air strikes and gun battles that erupted in northern Gaza, security sources and witnesses said.Israeli infantry troops backed by armored forces entered northern Gaza before dawn and gun battles ensued, followed by several sir strikes, witnesses said. One air strike killed a Palestinian policeman and in the clashes 20 people were wounded, including a dozen gunmen and civilians, among them a woman in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, security sources said. Ambulances were unable to reach some casualties for hours due to the intensity of the gunfire, witnesses said. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed "there is ground action in northern Gaza now" ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2619884

Donald Trump's display of patriotism is apparently too flamboyant for this chic oceanside town. Palm Beach officials cited Trump for hoisting a large American flag atop an 80-foot pole at his lavish Mar-a-Lago estate and club. Town officials said the real estate mogul has violated zoning codes with a flagpole taller than 42 feet and for erecting it without a building permit and permission from the landmarks board. Trump has until Nov. 27 to apply for approvals or face a Dec. 21 code enforcement hearing that could result in $250-a-day fines. "You don't need a permit to put up the American flag," Trump said Tuesday. "The day you need a permit to put up the American flag, that will be a sad day for this country." ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2620106

A Chinese court, citing inadequate evidence, overturned the guilty verdict of a blind activist who was sentenced to more than four years in prison after documenting claims of forced abortions, his lawyer said Wednesday. Chen Guangcheng was convicted in August of damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic" after a trial in the eastern province of Shandong. His case has drawn international attention by human rights activists as an example of what they say is official retaliation and unjust imprisonment of dissidents based on phony charges. The Linyi City Intermediate Court overturned the sentence on Monday and sent it back to the lower court, Li Jingsong, one of Chen's lawyers, said in a telephone interview. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2620103